An optical fiber cable in some cases includes plural fibers for the purpose of increasing the capacity or the number of devices linking via the cable. These fibers may be enclosed with a slotted core and the slotted core along with the fibers may be further enclosed with a sheath.
After being laid, some optical fiber cables are often subject to a work named “mid-span access” to make the enclosed optical fibers branch off. In the mid-span access work, the sheath and the core are cut and split to enable access to one or more of the enclosed fibers. As the fibers exposed to the exterior are susceptible to damage, any proper measure for protection may be required.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Publications Nos. S62-291608, S63-5313, H06-50009 and H08-211261 disclose related arts of optical fiber cables.